Multicultural Test Titles

Abstracts of Acculturation and Ethnic Identity Measures

The following is a list of instruments used in measuring acculturation and ethnic identity for various populations. Under each title is listed a primary reference and an abstract describing the instrument, its use, and construction.

Acculturating Rating Scale for Mexican Americans

222 Mexican American psychiatric inpatients and hospital staff/students were administered an acculturation scale (given in English/Spanish and scored on a 5-point Likert scale) to differentiate between 5 levels of acculturation: Very Mexican, Mexican-Oriented Bicultural, True Bicultural, Anglo-Oriented Bicultural, and Very Anglicized. ANOVA and factor analysis confirmed the hypothesis that acculturation levels are lowest for 1st-generation Mexican Americans and that they increase with each subsequent generation. The concept of considerable heterogeneity within the Mexican American population was supported, and the scale’s reliability and validity were established.

Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans-II

Describes the revision of the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans (ARSMA) and validation of the new instrument’s separate subscales for assessing acculturation processes through an orthogonal multidimensional approach by measuring cultural orientation toward Mexican and Anglo culture independently. The subscales were found to have good internal reliabilities, a high Pearson correlation coefficient with the original scale. Construct validity of the ARSMA-II was demonstrated with 379 undergraduates from 5 levels of acculturation. ARSMA-II is multifactorial and capable of generating multidimensional acculturative types.

The Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans (ARSMA) of Cuéllar, Harris, and Jasso (1980) is a widely used instrument of high reliability. Attempts to refine and validate the measure have been limited largely to factor analytic techniques. Typically three or four orthogonal factors are extracted from this measure. However, these factors usually are ignored in practice, and a single summed acculturation score is calculated across all items. The present research illustrates the dangers of factoring scales of extremely high internal consistency, and suggests an alternative. This alternative, applied to the responses of 790 Hispanic Americans, successfully reduces the ARSMA by half while maintaining its high internal consistency. The reduced measure is clearly single factored, strongly relates to the full scale, and replicates earlier results. The results of this scale construction/refinement suggest a strong link between communication and acculturation.

From factor analyses of responses on 13 items obtained from 381 Cambodians, 359 Laotian, and 395 Vietnamese Ss (aged 18-89) living in the US, 2 subscales were derived: (1) Proficiency in Languages and (2) Language, Social, and Food (LSF) preferences. Inter item reliability of the scales was demonstrated for each of the 3 ethnic groups. Construct validity was established by demonstrating expected associations of the subscales with current age, years in the US, years of education, percentage of lifetime in the US, and age on entering the US. Multivariate analyses revealed that males tended to show higher scores for the Proficiency in Language subscale. Multivariate analyses for the LSF Preference subscale showed that both the Laotian and Vietnamese females showed higher scores in comparison to males.

Examined possible links between acculturation and adjustment in 182 Vietnamese youths (10-23 yrs) living in a primarily Anglo-American community. The present research employed a complex perspective on both acculturation cast as separate levels of involvement in the native and host cultures and adjustment measured across personal (distress, depression, self-esteem), interpersonal (family relationships), and achievement (GPA) domains. Results indicate that, as expected, involvement in the US culture predicted positive functioning across all three adjustment domains, and involvement in the Vietnamese culture predicted positive family relationships. Contrary to hypotheses, involvement in the Vietnamese culture related negatively to personal adjustment (i.e., distress). Findings are discussed in terms of the apparent complexities of the acculturation-adjustment link, particularly with regard to the utility of viewing acculturation from a two-dimensional framework and the need to consider the type of adjustment examined and the social contexts in which the ethnic groups reside.

American-International Relations Scale

Describes the development of a multidimensional instrument, the American-International Relations Scale, designed to measure the acculturation of international students, scholars, and academicians. Factor analysis of 481 completed 34-item questionnaires, using varimax rotation, yielded 3 interpretable factors labeled (1) Perceived Prejudice, (2) Acculturation (renamed Social Customs), and (3) Language Usage. No item loaded saliently on 2 or more factors. Subscale intercorrelations support the hypothesis that acculturation occurs along a number of different planes, which may or may not be related to each other.

Sodowsky, G. R., & Plake, B. (1992). A study of acculturation differences among international people and suggestions for sensitivity to within-group differences. Journal of Counseling and Development, 71, 53-59.

490 international students, researchers, and permanent U.S. residents and naturalized citizens at a U.S. university completed the 34-item American-International Relations Scale. Results showed that Africans, Asians, and South Americans were less acculturated than Europeans in terms of perceived prejudice, observance of cultural practices and social ties, and language usage. There also were significant differences for permanent vs. nonpermanent U.S. resident status, length of residence in the U.S., and religion. Themes derived from open-ended responses showed that Ss referred to their religion, values, and a strong need to depend on or seek freedom from an image or symbols of their nationality group, their physical appearance, and their language. Findings suggest that cultural sensitivity involves deep empathy for substantial diversity between groups and for a wide range of behavior within a group.

Behavioral Acculturation Scale and Value Acculturation Scale

Outlines a psychosocial model of acculturation to account for the occurrence of intergenerational/acculturational differences in immigrant families. Two acculturation scales were developed to measure self-reported behaviors and value dimensions and were administered to 265 Cuban Americans and 201 Caucasian Americans. The behavioral scale provided a highly reliable and valid measure of acculturation and was superior to the value scale in almost every respect. Behavioral and value acculturation were linear functions of the amount of time a person was exposed to the host culture. The rate at which the behavioral acculturation process took place was a function of the age and sex of the individual. Findings suggest that intergenerational/acculturational differences develop because younger members of the family acculturate more rapidly than older family members.

Bicultural Acculturation Scale

Examined involvement in both Puerto Rican and American cultures by 403 1st- and 2nd-generation Puerto Rican adults. Ss were interviewed regarding their cultural experiences both in Puerto Rico and the US, and interviews were content analyzed to develop acculturation items. Factor analysis yielded 2 general factors, involvement in American culture and involvement in Puerto Rican culture, that demonstrated modest reliability, relative independence, and moderate correlations with traditional acculturation scale validity. Results challenge the assumption of mutual cultural exclusivity in acculturative change and enable the measurement of degree of biculturality.

Bidimensional Acculturation Scale for Hispanics

Reports the development of a bidimensional acculturation scale for Hispanics (BAS). The scale provides an acculturation score for 2 major cultural dimensions (Hispanic and non-Hispanic domains) by including 12 items (per cultural domain) that measure 3 language-related areas. A random sample of 254 adult Hispanics was surveyed to develop and validate the scale. Ss were also asked to answer the Short Acculturation Scale for Hispanics as a way to measure the concurrent validity of the new scale. The scores obtained with the BAS show high internal consistency and high validity coefficients. Results show that the scale works well with Mexican Americans and with Central Americans.

Chicano Adolescent Acculturation Scale

A paper-and-pencil measure of acculturation for Chicano adolescents was developed using multiple regression techniques; Ss were 924 Chicano and Anglo high school students in 3 southern California communities. A linear combination of sociocultural and semantic differential variables provided for optimal discrimination between Chicanos and Anglos. A double cross-validation procedure indicated that the 20-variable regression equation was reasonably stable, yielding validity coefficients from .66 to .80. An ancillary study of 129 Chicano and Anglo junior college students included in the regression equation resulted in 3 factors; 2 were slightly inter-correlated and loaded primarily with sociocultural variables pertaining to language spoken at home, nationality, and socioeconomic status of the head of household. The 3rd factor was essentially orthogonal to the other 2 and showed high loadings for semantic differential scales for the concepts mother, father, and male on the potency dimension.

Children’s Acculturation Scale

Describes the development of an acculturation scale for Mexican American children. The instrument, to be completed by someone who knows the child well (e.g., teacher or counselor), is a 10-item Likert-type scale that requires the rater to respond on a 1-5 scale. Data from 141 Mexican American and 34 Anglo 1st, 3rd, and 6th graders support the reliability and validity of the scale. Factor analysis results are in agreement with the hypothesis that variables such as peer associations, ethnic identification, and language preference, usage, and proficiency are involved in measuring acculturation levels.

Cuban Behavioral Identity Questionnaire

Constructed the Cuban Behavioral Identity Questionnaire (CBIQ), answerable in a 7-point Likert-scale format, that assesses the frequency with which respondents engage in several ethnic behaviors and are familiar with Cuban idiomatic expressions, artists, and musicians. The questionnaire was administered to 142 Cubans and 130 non-Cuban Hispanics. Significant differences with respect to age at time of arrival, years of residence in the US, and Cuban density of the neighborhood of residence were found.

This chapter is characterized by both theoretical questions and data-based findings. An attempt is made to see the relationships among the constructs of acculturation, the family, immigrant sociocultural factors, and cultural adjustment difficulties. Relationships are proposed using Asian immigrants as Ss of conceptualization and of an empirical investigation. There are 3 parts to the chapter. First, the bidirectional model of acculturation is reformulated from the perspective of ethnic identity. Second, relationships between ethnic identity and the family are considered because ethnic identity and the family are at the core of the Asian collective self. Third, a data-based empirical investigation of Asian immigrants on the CADC is reported. This is a study, using structural equation modeling, on the structural relations of some of the constructs or their related components, such as acculturation preferences for language usage and social customs, family network and support, extent of ethnic friendships, perception of prejudice, sociocultural immigrant variables, and cultural adjustment difficulties. Factor analyses, one for a sample of Asian Americans (N=382), and another for a sample of Asian international people (N=705), revealed two facts, Acculturative Stress (35 items) and Intercultural Competence (24 items) with high internal consistency reliabilities.

The Cultural Values Conflict Scale is a self-report measure used to assess the degree to which South Asian women living in the US experience cultural value conflicts. For the purpose of administration, the scale is called the South Asian Cultural Experience Measure to reduce response bias. The scale contains 24 items rated on a 5-point Likert-type scale (1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=neutral, 4=agree, 5=strongly agree). The measure consists of 2 subscales, namely Intimate Relations and Sex-role Expectations. The Intimate Relations subscale contains items related to dating/premarital sexual relations and the marriage realms, and the Sex-role Expectations subscale contains items reflective of the family relations and sex-role expectations within the family and community. To obtain a copy of the measure, please contact the primary author at inmanarp@shu.edu.

Cultural Life Style Inventory

Describes the development of the Cultural Life Style Inventory, a self-report instrument designed to measure type and degree of acculturation in Mexican American adolescents and adults. The proposed instrument (1) measures levels of acculturation on 5 relatively orthogonal dimensions (intrafamily language usage, extrafamily language usage, social affiliations and activities, cultural familiarity and activities, and cultural identification and pride); (2) generates separate estimates of cultural resistance, cultural incorporation, and cultural shift; and (3) identifies dominant or nondominant cultural lifestyle tendencies. Empirical data from Mexican and Anglo-Americans concerning the content and construct validity, temporal stability, internal consistency, and equivalence of the Spanish and English versions of the scale are presented.

As part of a larger effort to develop a multi-dimensional ethnocultural identification scale for clinical and research use, a cultural general 19 item self-report behavior index entitled the Ethnocultural Identity Behavior Index (EIBI) was designed. The psychometrics of the EIBI were examined on a sample of 352 college students self-identifying with an Asian American or Native Hawaiian ethnocultural group. The data suggest that the EIBI has high internal consistency. Construct and concurrent convergent validity were also established for the EIBI through a comparison of the EIBI scores of immigrants and non-immigrants, through correlations with self-reported strength of identification with one’s chosen ethnocultural group (r = .48), and through correlations with the self-reports of pride toward one’s group (r = .31). A factor analysis of the EIBI yielded three factors that accounted for 60% of the total variance.

Hispanic Stress Inventory

A 4-phase project was conducted to develop a culturally appropriate measure of psychosocial stress, the Hispanic Stress Inventory (HSI). Phase 1 involved the collection of open-ended interview data (N = 105) to generate a set of meaningful psychosocial stress items. Phase 2 examined the construct validity of the HSI items by means of consensus ratings of expert judges along 6 conceptual categories. Phase 3 (N = 493) involved the use of factor analytic procedures to determine the underlying scale structure of the HSI, both for a Latin American immigrant and a US-born (Mexican American) sample. This procedure resulted in an Immigrant Version of the HSI comprised of 73 items and 5 distinct subscales, as well as a US-born version of the HSI comprised of 59 items and 4 distinct subscales. In Phase 4, reliability estimates for the HSI were conducted by means of both internal consistency and small test-retest study (N = 35). Both procedures yielded high reliability coefficients.

Explored the relationship between internal and external ethnic identity of US-Chinese immigrants and their experience of salience of ethnicity, fear of loss of face, and cultural stress. 224 Chinese immigrants or their children, all of whom were adults, completed the Internal-External Ethnic Identity measure, the Acculturative Distress subscale of the Cultural Adjustment Difficulties Checklist, the Salience of Ethnicity Index, and the Loss of Face Measure. Results revealed that Chinese American immigrants could be differentiated into the different identity groups, Internal, External, and Internal-External Undifferentiated. Additionally, internal ethnic identity significantly predicted salience of ethnicity and loss of face. Income, ethnicity salience, external ethnic identity, and loss of face were significant predictors of acculturative stress. The Internal-External Ethnic Identity measure indicated high levels of internal consistency reliability. Q-sorts performed by experts indicated high inter-rater reliability, as calculated by the nonparametric phi coefficient.

The factor-analytic structure of the Internal-External Ethnic Identity (Int-Ext ID) measure was examined using a sample of Chinese Americans. Items in the Int-Ext ID measure reflect the common internal and external aspects of ethnic identity as conceptualized from the social psychological perspective, as well as the Asian values of family orientation and collectivism. Four factorsEthnic Friendship and Affiliation, Ethno-Communal Expression, Ethnic Food Orientation, and Family-Collectivism were identified.

Administered a 26-item acculturation measure (appended) to a probability sample of 1245 adult Mexican Americans in Los Angeles. The measure demonstrated high internal reliability for the total sample and for specific sex, educational, and language groups. Construct validity was supported by showing that acculturation scores predicted length of exposure to US culture. Data suggest that, among 1st-generation Mexican Americans, those who were younger and male acculturated more rapidly than those who were older and female. This sex difference, but not the age difference, could be explained by educational and employment differences.

A simple scale for quantifying English use among Mexican Americans was constructed from four brief questions which proved to have excellent scaling characteristics by Guttman Scalogram Analysis in two independent data sets. Construct validity was established by significant associations of the scale with ethnicity, place of birth, generation within the U.S., and type of neighborhood. Highly significant associations were found between scale scores and use of oral contraceptives, parity, fatalism regarding health, and attitudes toward folk healers. These associations remained significant (though weak) after controlling for education and family income. The language scale thus appears to be reliable and valid, to be capable of distinguishing meaningful subsets among the Mexican American population, and to be applicable to health care investigation.

Mexican American Acculturation Scale

Montgomery, G. T. (1992). Comfort with acculturation status among students from South Texas. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 14(2), 201-223.

Discusses a 28-item acculturation rating scale for Mexican Americans, designed to measure the extent to which Ss vary in Mexican vs. Anglo cultural orientation (CO), as well as the extent to which they are comfortable with their ethnic identity (EI). The scale was administered to 844 Ss comprising 3 different student populations in Texas. The items in the scale clustered around 5 factors: (1) comfort with Mexican traditions and the Spanish media; (2) English media and Anglo tradition; (3) preferred EI; (4) self-rated EI; and (5) comfort with speaking English. Changes in factor subscale scores showed that Ss in Generations 1 began with a positive bias toward Anglo orientation. By Generation 5, though, Ss showed a preference for a more Mexican CO than they rated themselves as having. The high number of Ss who rated themselves as blended and alienated indicates high acculturative stress.

282 Hispanic and Asian American university students completed the 38-item Minority-Majority Relations Scale, an alternate form of the American-International Relations Scale, to examine the effects of sociocultural variables on their acculturation attitudes. 82% saw a relationship between their culture and their identity. Asian Americans perceived racial discrimination significantly more than did the Hispanics. On the three subscales, respondents who were 1st-generation immigrants perceived more prejudice, were less acculturated (renamed Social Customs by the authors), and used less English than did those who were 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generations. Political refugees perceived more prejudice, were more closely affiliated with their cultural groups, and used English less than did voluntary immigrants. Those who observed Eastern religions were the least acculturated, and Protestants most. Statistics reported include tests of internal consistency, confirmatory factor analysis, and coefficients of factor congruence across two samples, indicating high levels of reliability and content validity.

Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure

Phinney, J. S. (1992). The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure: A new scale for use with diverse groups. Journal of Adolescent Research, 7(2), 156-176.

Developed a questionnaire measure of ethnic identity based on the elements of ethnic identity that are common across groups so that it can be used with all ethnic groups. The questionnaire was administered to 134 Asian American, 131 African American, 89 Hispanic, 12 White, 11 Black, 1 American Indian, and 8 mixed background college students (aged 18-34 yrs). Reliability, assessed by Cronbach’s alpha, was .81 for the high school sample and .90 for the college sample. The relationship of ethnic identity to various demographic variables and to self-esteem was examined. The measure was reliable and can be used to examine similarities and differences in ethnic identity and its correlates among youths from different ethnic groups.

Na Mea Hawai’i Scale (Hawaiian Ways)

An acculturation scale for Native Hawaiians entitled Na Mea Hawai’i Scale or Hawaiian Ways was developed in 2 phases. In Phase 1, 15 Hawaiian leaders and residents were asked for their definitions and examples of Hawaiian culture. Responses were worded as survey items measuring Hawaiian culture. In Phase 2, the 34-item scale was administered to 50 Hawaiian, 50 Japanese and 50 Caucasian respondents. Analysis indicates that Hawaiian Ss responded significantly differently from the Japanese and Caucasian Ss on 20 of the 34 items. The scale may serve heuristically as a tool yielding a functional definition of Hawaiian ethnicity in cross-cultural investigations.

Reports the development of a 155-item questionnaire. The items were developed to assess the awareness and loyalty components of Padilla’s acculturation model. Only the items that displayed normality and linearity of regression were included in the final instrument. The instrument is made up of two subscales with four factors each and was developed and validated on a randomly selected sample of 381 Mexican American adults from three southern California communities. Four factors were identified for both the cultural awareness and ethnic loyalty dimensions. Internal reliability estimates for the four factors were equal to or greater than .90

Documented the psychometric properties of the Psychological Acculturation Scale (PAS) in three studies. The PAS was developed to assess acculturation from a phenomenological perspective, with items pertaining to the individual’s sense of psychological attachment to and belonging within the Anglo-American and Latino/Hispanic cultures. Participants were 36 self-identified bilingual Latinos (aged 13-58 yrs), 107 Puerto Ricans (aged 12-58 yrs), 247 Puerto Rican 13- and 14-yr-old adolescents, and 228 mothers of these adolescents (aged 27-57 yrs). Responses from these samples were used to establish a high degree of measurement equivalence across the Spanish and English versions of the scale along with high levels of internal consistency and construct validity. The usefulness of the PAS and the importance of studying acculturation from a phenomenological perspective are discussed.

Short Acculturation Scale for Hispanics

Developed a 12-item acculturation scale for Hispanics and conducted separate factor analyses of the responses of 363 Hispanics and 228 Anglos, which produced 3 factors: Language Use, Media, and Ethnic Social Relations. The 12-item scale (explaining 67.6% of the variance for Hispanics) correlated highly with the following validation criteria: generation, length of residence in the U.S., age at arrival, ethnic self-identification, and acculturation index. The validity and reliability coefficients for this short scale are comparable to those obtained for other published scales.

Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale

Designed a scale for assessing acculturation of Asians, modeled after a successful scale for Hispanics, the ARSMA. Initial reliability and validity data are reported for 2 samples of Asian undergraduates totaling 82 Ss (mean age 19 yrs) from 2 states in the U.S.

Discusses the reliability and validity data on an extensive study of the Suinn-Lew Self Identity Acculturation Scale (SL-ASIA) involving a sample of 324 Asian American university students. Concurrent validity results show that the SL-ASIA scores were significantly correlated with demographic information hypothesized to reflect levels of Asian American identity. For example, high SL-ASIA scores were associated with having attended school in the U.S. over a longer period of time, during which time the S’s Asian identity would have been reduced. Factorial validity was determined by comparing factors obtained for the SL-ASIA with factors reported for a similar scale measuring acculturation of Hispanics, the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans (ARSMA). Of the 4 interpretable factors reported for the ARSMA, 3 were identified for the SL-ASIA.